Culture with other stuff (Name needs rework)
Social structure The country of Rodhamr would be one of a caste system. Those who were born into a farmer's life would die in a farmer's life. Knights, merchants and aristocrats would be considered part of the richer side of the hierarchy. Those who were wood workers, blacksmiths, jewelry artisans, artists, soldiers and such would be middle class. Sewage workers, maintenance workers, farmers and such would be the low end of the caste system. Women were treated fairly equal to a man. A farmer may have a woman has it's head of the household if there is no man or if no man wanted to take the leadership role. They would also be allowed to be black smiths, sewage workers, wood workers, etc but would remain in the same caste social standing. The women who belonged to the richer hierarchy would be allowed to be educated and even be considered a position as a high priest. Women could also be elected to be a high chancellor and some have been one before. Sevrn does not favour one gender over the other and to be high chancellor would be the voice of Sevrn, gender would not matter at all when one would become the voice of Sevrn. They were also allowed to join the army but often served a support role, tending to wounded soldiers and acted as reserved troops, only brought out if the main army had been exhausted or numbers would be low and women would have to enter the battle. The only position women were not allowed to hold is the title of a knight. They would be reserved only for men since the first warriors were men when the chieftain first sacrificed to Sevrn. Knights of Sevrn Each region would house 44 knights. Every summer of sacrifice, a region would go out to capture warriors to bring to the South region to be sacrificed to Sevrn, rotating clockwise each summer. For example, if the East region were to go this year to the hunt, next year would be the South's turn, the year after would be the West and so on. They would travel Eastward to do battle and capture warriors of nomadic tribes. Each knight would only carry back 1 captured warrior and would have 4 weeks to do so. If a knight could not bring back a warrior, a woman would be captured or a child. Doing this would bring shame to the knight's house name so a knight would go through a cleansing process. They would strip themselves and then have a trusted fellow knight whip them until blood dripped down their backs. This blood would be collected into a chalice and then poured onto the woman or child before the sacrificial ceremony. They believed doing this would appease Sevrn since the blood of a knight who is a warrior would be considered a suitable gift for not being able to capture a warrior. The captured prisoners would be well fed and their desires fulfilled. Since they were to be sacrificed, the Children of Sevrn believed it would be preferable that these prisoners be treated with dignity before giving their life up. This cleansing ritual is called rengora. The eldest son would usually be the one to carry on a knight's house name. If a house could not produce a son, the house could request a fellow knight to have a son of theirs who is not the eldest be adopted to their house. Doing this would have the adopted son use his adopted house's name and would no longer be apart of his biological family When the knights go out on their yearly hunt for sacrifices, they would wear masks into battle. These are the masks of ensamhet. They are used so that the neighboring tribes and those that they hunt down cannot tell apart one knight from another. The masks are of a religious nature. Since the knights are to serve the will of Sevrn and not themselves, these masks help them acknowledge their devotion to Sevrn, for some knights, it helps them separate their identity from their actions, making what they do, a noble cause. These masks are coloured white with gold trimmings, with the religious symbol of Sevrn attached to the forehead area. It is considered an important piece of equipment that all knights must wear when participating in the summer of sacrifice. To lose this mask is a great shame, if a knight cannot retrieve a lost mask, they must be sacrificed to atone for losing a gift from Sevrn. If however, the mask is retrieved, the knight must go through a the rengora ritual for the shame of losing the mask. When the knights are called upon into battle, not for sacrificial means but to shed blood with warring nations, they would go out and wear the mask of Slass. This serves to unit the knights in their cause, to let themselves know that what they do is not for Sevrn but for the sake of the kingdom of Rodhmar. These masks would not have the symbol of Sevrn attached to it, they would instead be coloured red and gold, to let the enemy know that these are the colours of the nation of Rodhmar. The Slass is a very intimidating piece, to make the knights look more demonic in nature, it has been used to lower the morale of enemies, seeing hundreds of knights march looking very demonic. Masks Masks are deeply intertwined within the culture of Rodhmar. Since it is a very religious nation, they use masks to represent their devotion to Sevrn. The prasts wear masks to represent their ranks, the knights use them as either a religious item or as part of their war piece. Common soldiers are also given masks to intimidate enemies and show uniformity, to represent that the nation is united under Sevrn. Seasons Each season would last roughly 3 month Spring New year's day would happen when the first daisies would bloom. They believed that it is Sevrn awakening from his slumber and with his awakening, the world warms with the blood of life flowing. They would celebrate Sevrn's awakening with a ceremonious party that would last a week. Summer Summer of sacrifice would have knights of a region go Eastward to find warriors to take as prisoners. The hunt would last for a month and the captured warriors would be well fed and their needs taken care of for 2 months. In the last weeks of the 3rd month of summer, the sacrificial ceremony would begin. In the South region, in the first kyrkar, these 44 warriors would be sacrificed in a public viewing. The high chancellor would use the holy staff which would sprout 4 tentacles that would pierce the hearts of the sacrifices. Soon, a larger thick tentacle would come and open a small wormhole. The sacrificed would then be sucked into the tentacle and become nothing. The tentacles would then retract back into the staff and the ceremony would end, with a party to celebrate the knight's job and for the sacrificed who would give their lives to make sure the world would continue to live on with their blood being used by Sevrn to make the world. Fall The remaining knights that did not participate in the summer of sacrifice would enter a jousting contest. The region with the least amount of wins would be forced during the winter to prepare items that would create as much noise as possible. Winter The cold winter months would have the knights who lost the jousting contest travel to each region, making as much noise as possible. They would stop at each region for a week to create loud noises. It is believed that Sevrn sleeps during the winter after working from spring until fall to make the world run. Winter would have the blood dry up and cause the cold of winter to come. They believed that making as much noise as possible would make Sevrn awake from his slumber quicker. Some times the winter months would be shorter and other times longer. They would believe that the knights did not make a loud enough of a sound to make Sevrn wake up which caused the winter months to be longer